Reiteration
by Merle Chaotix
Summary: Old Predacons don't necessarily die...


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Reiteration

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Seconds, anyone?

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Having miraculously escaped from their rock prison, Scorponok and Terrorsaur emerge much changed, into a changed world…

The primitive planet is being scoured clean by a massive, artificial moon…few things survive…all but a few of the Maximal stasis pods have crashed from orbit. Then, Optimus Primal makes a valiant sacrifice, giving himself up to destroy the moon and save both his comrades and the Predacons. A shock wave hits the planet, transforming some into Transmetals, but spelling a death sentence for Scorponok and Terrorsaur, who fall into the lava seeping through the cracks in the Predacon base.

Or, at least, so it seems…

Time has passed since the events of the Vok Moon. The Beast Wars have continued; Depth Charge and Rampage have arrived. The identity of the planet has been revealed, Dinobot has died his noble death and been brought back from the grave, the Ark has been located and the Axalon shattered. Cheetor has matured into his new form, and Blackarachnia has fallen in love with the Fuzor Silverbolt and become a true Maximal, as well as a Transmetal. A new day dawns, with Waspinator flying through the Predacon base in robot mode grumbling about his troubles:

"Wazzpinator always getzz picked on, alwayzz gets zlag azzignmentz, he not even know why he ztill ztayzz with Megatron…"

He fails to see the cooled pool of lava start to crack. Muffled thumping can be heard, and suddenly a hand smashes through to the surface. It pulls down again, and a few moments later a purple and black figure bursts through the rock. It hovers, apparently Transmetal and covered with powdery rock. Having heard the cracking of the rock, Waspinator comes back into the room.

The figure looks at him, its eyes burning with hatred. Its voice is changed, but still recognizable. "You are….Waspinator??"

Waspinator's jaw drops so fast he almost gets whiplash. "Terrorzaur? But Terrorzaur wazz destroyed when the moon egzzploded! Wazzpinator confuzzed…"

Terrorsaur grins, the smile seeming like a rictus of pain on his twisted face. "Then let me clear things up for you, insect!" A brief powering-up sound fills the room, then a beam of light impales the hapless Waspinator as Terrorsaur screams, a shaft of energy shooting across the room. The prehistoric Predacon simply laughs as his one-time comrade falls to the ground, badly damaged, and then drops after him. Walking over to Waspinator, the dactyl kicks him in the side, knocking him onto his back.

"Well, it's been nice slaughtering you, but I have places to go and bots to kill." Terrorsaur grabs Waspinator by the neck and hauls him up, then thrusts his free hand into the wasp bot's spark chamber and squeezes. Waspinator convulses in pain and his optics begin to fade as Terrorsaur somehow leeches the energy from his helpless prey.

The only thing that saves Waspinator is Megatron, who floats into the room on a hover-platform and sees the bizarre scene. Taking in the situation with a glance, the Predacon leader aims his cannon at Terrorsaur's back and fires. Terrorsaur drops the partially drained Waspinator to the ground, then turns slowly to face Megatron. Astonishment dawns in the Predacon leader's face as he realizes just whom he is facing. "Terrorsaur?"

With a mocking bow, Terrorsaur replies. "The one and only, none the worse for your having left him to burn in a lava pit. You look well, Megatron; don't expect to stay that way."

With an insane laugh, he shoots straight upward, bursting through the roof of the Darkside and flying off into the distance far faster than any Predacon can follow.

Inside the base, Megatron stares at the hole in the roof for a few moments, then reverts to beast mode and picks up Waspinator, starting to carry him to the CR chamber. After he leaves, all is quiet for a few moments, then a humming sound starts. It grows gradually louder, and then suddenly another form bursts out of the ground, this one obviously Scorponok.

"Finally! I am free!" Scorponok's voice, though similarly changed, sounds much more similar to his original one than Terrorsaur's. "It has been long…a long time."

He activates new thrusters, courtesy of his Transmetal form, and flies through the hole in the roof, disappearing into the distance. Unbeknownst to him, Cheetor is on scout duty, and is astonished as he realizes who he is seeing…

Back at the Ark…

"Are you completely sure?" Optimal Optimus asks incredulously. "It couldn't have been some other Predacon you saw?"

"Definitely, Big Bot." Cheetor says. "Either that was Scorponok, or there's some other Predacon flying around with a scorpion beastmode. But, I thought he was destroyed when the shock wave hit the Predacon ship? Didn't he and Terrorsaur fall into the lava?"

"I don't know." Optimus muses. "I don't know how he could have survived something like that, but if you saw him, then apparently he did. However he did, the problem is that if he's alive, then we have another dangerous and most probably powerful enemy. Scorponok always possessed a lot of firepower, but if he's a Transmetal, then he must be more powerful now than he was then."

"I guess so." Cheetor replies. "Anyway, I'd better get back to my patrol route. Beast mode!"

"Wait, Cheetor." Optimus says. "Remember, be careful. With two new Predacons flying around out there, it's more dangerous than ever."

The feline Maximal nods in acknowledgement and departs, and Optimus sits down, musing.

On board the Predacon ship…

Waspinator, newly out of the CR pool, stands in robot mode on board one of the hover-platforms. "Wazzpinator zzure, that was Terrorzaur, but Wazzpinator thought that Terrorzaur wazz zlagged?"

Megatron, reposing in his command chair, nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that most definitely was Terrorsaur…Perhaps some side effect of the quantum surge that caused our bodies to change to Transmetal protected him; but if so, then why did not Scorponok survive?"

Tarantulas was hovering close by, attending to a console; at this he turned towards the Predacon leader and his flunky. "But, Megatron, how do we know that Scorponok did not, in fact, survive the lava as well as Terrorsaur? The room was unguarded, and he could have left through the hole in the roof before anyone came back there."

"Of course I know that, you dolt." Megatron growls, annoyed that the spider has, indeed, thought of a possibility which had not occurred to him. "However, Scorponok was completely loyal to me; if he had survived, he would have reported in first thing."

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"After you left him buried under lava? Not likely!" thinks Tarantulas, but out loud he only says, "I suppose so, Megatron."

"So, we must find out what Terrorsaur is now capable of doing, and what he intends to do, yes…" says Megatron, as he begins calling up sensor displays. "Rampage, go find Terrorsaur, and observe him, but at a distance. I don't want him slagged, not until we know what he's capable of. He may prove a useful weapon against the Maximals, yes…"

On a rock, outside the sensor range of either the Predacons or the Maximals, Scorponok sits in robot mode. He is changed, not only his form, but by his long, long imprisonment in the cooled lava.

He has had a long time to think, and has become more thoughtful, more intelligent, although he does not realize it. He has had the mental fortitude to maintain his sanity, unlike Terrorsaur; that, he is glad for.

Additionally, he can feel things with his new body that he never has before; he is more than the other Transformers, he feels the ebb and flow of the remaining energon fields as well as…something else, something alien?

No matter; he'll wonder about that later. For the moment, he is occupied by a few important facts; first of all, Megatron apparently left him to die in the lava, something which at one time Scorponok would not have allowed himself to believe. Then, he had undying loyalty to the Predacon leader, but now…

There is really no point in rejoining the Beast Wars, is there? It apparently carried on just fine without him and Terrorsaur, and even should he rejoin Megatron and cause a Predacon victory, what then? They would be refugees, running from the Maximal forces wherever they went. The misadventure had been doomed from the start…perhaps Dinobot's reasoning had been correct…

He breaks off his chain of thought, seeing something approaching him from the air. Mindful that it might be Terrorsaur, he squints, peering with enhanced vision at the still-distant figure.

In a moment, he realizes that it is Cheetor; once, he would have fired at him, but he has no wish to obliterate the first intelligent being he has met since his imprisonment. Waiting until she is within shouting range, he stands up, facing him. "Cheetor…" he says, surprised at his voice; it has changed, become deeper and more resonant than before. "It has been a long time."

Realizing that he sees him, the Maximal soars closer and transforms. "Scorponok, I presume?" he says in his pleasant voice. "Yes, it has been a long time…a lot has changed. But the Beast Wars continue…"

Smiling sadly, Scorponok shakes his head. "I'm not so sure that they do for me…"

Cheetor nods. "I can see why, being trapped like that would definitely change someone. But, much as I hate to say it, you will have to choose sides sooner or later; either Megatron will try to swing you to his side, or destroy you if you won't stay with him. He won't like a loose cannon."

Scorponok pauses for a moment, then cocks his right claw and aims at Cheetor, revealing a quad missile launcher. "If I attacked and destroyed you right now, he would welcome me back to the Predacons…"

The two stay motionless for an endless moment, then Scorponok closes his claw and lowers his arm, shaking his head. "No…I…I can't just shoot at you…I _have_ changed, haven't I? I've even developed a sense of honor…"

Cheetor smiles. "I suppose you have…I'd have to say it's an improvement. The old Scorponok wouldn't have hesitated to blow me to scrap, but-"

Whatever he was about to say next is cut off as a jagged beam of light spears through his torso, Terrorsaur becoming visible as the source of the attack as he flies towards them. He has become substantially larger since he escaped from the Predacon base, and jagged cracks have appeared in his armor. What is visible of his beastmode seems to be _changing_ somehow, halfway shifted into another form.

Scorponok misses this observation, probably because he is occupied in dashing forward to try and shield the helpless Maximal from the spark-draining energy of Terrorsaur. The first assault ends, and Scorponok catches the second one on his claw, the energy dissipating harmlessly.

Terrorsaur lands, his arms crossed across his chest and his eyes filled with insane glee. When he speaks, his voice is even more of a screech than it was originally. "Ah, Scorponok, my partner in imprisonment. I see that you're looking well. I was just about to have a snack…"

The erstwhile Predacon scorpion targets Terrorsaur with his quad launcher, and when he speaks his voice is a growl. "A snack? You've changed at least as much as I have, Terrorsaur, and not for the better." Scorponok cocks the launcher, not taking his optics off of the saurian for a nanocycle.

Terrorsaur, meanwhile, seems not to notice the weapon aimed at him. "Oh, yes, I have changed…I'm so much stronger than I ever was, even stronger than Megatron! But, now I have other things to do than plot ways to take over the Predacons…" he trails off, and giggles for a few minutes insanely. Then, he appears to regain control of himself, and peers at Scorponok. "Hey…you wouldn't be stopping me from taking the snack, would you?" 

Not waiting for an answer, he screeches, and a bolt of lightning streaks out from his spark chamber, transfixing Scorponok. The arachnid staggers, a missile reflexively shooting out from his launcher; by sheer luck, it belts Terrorsaur right across the chops, a massive explosion sending the saurian flyer off of the hill they stand on and out of sight.

Cheetor shakes off the remaining effects of the bolt, and is just in time to catch Scorponok as he collapses. He lays Scorponok down on the hilltop, and in a moment the former Predacon recovers enough to stand. He shakes his head as if to clear it, and shudders. "That…Terrorsaur was trying to…eat our sparks? How? We…have to warn Optimus…and Megatron."

Airrazor nods. "Even though he is a Predacon…Nobody deserves something like that, not even Megatron. We've got to get back to base."

Suddenly, Rampage pops out from behind a boulder in beastmode. "Not likely…Rampage, Terrorize!" He shifts to tank mode, and aims his largest barrel at the two Cybertronians. "Bye-bye!"

He fires, the shell traveling at supersonic speeds, streaking through the air at Scorponok, leaving a trail of superheated air molecules behind…

And stopping dead as Scorponok simply catches it in his right claw, without even showing a sign of strain. He holds it up and looks at it for a moment. "Hmm…Ionic charge…it ought to do some pretty heavy damage to whatever it hits." Turning, he spins in a circle once and throws it with all his strength at Rampage, who is speechless; no-one's ever _caught_ one of his shells before.

The crab once known as Protoform X only has time to transform to robotmode before the shell hits, detonating with a massive explosion that sends the Predacon over the horizon, a gaping hole blown in his armor and lethal (for any other bot) damage done to most of his systems.

Back at the Ark…

Cheetor and Scorponok have come to the Maximal base, with no larger disruption than Silverbolt's surprise at Scorponok's arrival. Now, they stand in what was once the Axalon's bridge, Scorponok looking around at the distrustful Rattrap and curious Rhinox, who presently return to their duties as Optimus strides up, Cheetor walking beside him.

"I now present…Scorponok." Cheetor says simply.

"Who're you?" Scorponok asks, looking up…and up…and up at Optimus. "You look a little like Optimus Primal, but…"

"It's a long story. Yes, I am Optimus…hello, Scorponok. I'm glad to see you didn't die in the lava. I see you've gone Transmetal…Cheetor also tells me you've had a crisis of conscience. I'm not trying to recruit you to our side or anything, but I'm afraid that while you're here, you'll have to deactivate your weapons systems; just in case you're here on Megatron's orders." Optimus looks regretful for a moment, then perks up. "On the other hand, our CR chamber is open to you if you need it; seeing as how you turned the tables on Rampage, we'll give you a measure of trust."

Scorponok nods, then looks up. "Optimus, I'm not the only one who escaped from the lava…Terrorsaur broke free shortly before I did. He's changed as well, probably more than I have. He's dangerous, Optimus…very dangerous. He's a Transmetal now, with a powerful body, and he seems to be insane to boot. I'd watch him if I were you."

Optimus digests this, and turns abruptly. "Thank you for the advice. However, I think that should Terrorsaur show up, our autoguns will be more than enough to deal with him, not that I think that he'll attack the Ark; he seems more likely to want to get back at Megatron for leaving him in the lava."

The maximal leader turns to leave, but Scorponok grabs his arm with one claw. "Optimus, _do not_ underestimate Terrorsaur. He has changed at least as much as I have, possibly more; he may be more powerful than any of us now. Don't make the same mistake that Megatron is likely to…"

Optimus turns back, and his voice is forceful. "Thank you for your concern, but I said, our autoguns would be able to handle him!"

The autoguns aren't able to handle Terrorsaur – that much is immediately obvious.

Darting, bobbing and weaving insanely in robot mode, the crazed Predacon easily avoids the energy bolts of the Maximals' defenses, randomly firing out lightning bolts of energy at the automated energy cannons, making them spark and jitter. 

His attack shifts, however, as the massive doors creak open and several of the Maximals – Cheetor in the center, Rattrap on his left and Optimus to his right – dash out to deal with the airborne threat. Stopping his dives and strafing attacks, he stops almost dead in midair, the nonfunctional autocannons grinding to a halt.

A nonsensical leer plastered on his face, he sneers down at the three Maximals, who have weapons trained on him but wait for him to make the first move. Suddenly, he crosses his arms and shakes his head, smirking. "Mmm mm mm…You all look so tasty, I barely know who to devour first…Ah well, I suppose the cat will have to do. I've already tasted him once, that was simply the appetizer… now here comes the main course!"

Breaking off suddenly, he darts forward, slamming into Cheetor and knocking the Maximal backward. A bubble of energy forming around the two as the lunatic Terrorsaur sends his lighting-like energy surging through the Transmetal 2 cheetah's body, Cheetor screams in agony as the very energies of his spark are drained from him. 

"Cheetor!" Optimus and Rattrap shout in unison; the rodent dashes forward to try to pull Terrorsaur off of Cheetor, but Optimus shouts "Rattrap, wait, don't!" with sudden misgiving. Sure enough, as soon as Rattrap's hand nears the Predacon, it comes into contact with the force bubble and surges of energy race through the Transmetal rodent's body, sending him flying backward. Residual charges of energy crackle as he comes down hard on the ground, sliding to a halt against some rocks, badly damaged.

Optimus looks from one to the other, then suddenly strides to the side of the interlocked forms of Cheetor and Terrorsaur, and with a gargantuan show of courage, reaches down and deliberately tries to push through the force-field. Massive amounts of energy surge through his body, but he forces himself to simply ignore the pain, telling himself that it must be nothing compared to what Cheetor is going through. After fighting alongside him in the Beast Wars, undergoing transformation to Transmetal and Transmetal II, and maturing along the way from a cocky, inexperienced rookie to a headstrong, courageous fighter, Optimus simply refuses to allow Cheetor's spark to be extinguished this way.

Finally, with a roar, Optimus' hands break through the field with a sharp report, a coruscating wash of energy expanding outward for a moment but dissipating quickly. Terrorsaur, his concentration disrupted, releases his grip on the now-unconscious Cheetor and stares up at Optimal Optimus confusedly. "You…how did you…" he stammers with surprise and bewilderment. However, before Optimus can draw a bead on the Predacon, the saurian lunatic realizes what happened and darts away from the Ark, flashing off into the distance and leaving nothing behind but a fading screech.

However, the Maximals have no opportunity to appreciate his exit; almost before he is out of sight, from a different direction come Megatron and the rest of the Predacon forces, minus Rampage who is still unaccounted for due to Scorponok's earlier reversal of his attack.

Unlike countless former attacks, the Predacon leader this time uses tactics – rather than charging in an all-out attack at the Ark doors, he first sends in the expendable Waspinator, who carries a large missile in his beast mode claws. Dodging fire from Optimal Optimus, he presses a button on the side of the missile and lets go as it activates, the projectile streaking towards the unprotected Ark doors as the insectile Predacon transforms, firing a frantic salvo of missiles from his weapon.

However, Optimus takes the hits and fires back at Waspinator, blowing the enemy out of the air – but too late to prevent the purpose of the one-bot suicide run; a large booster activating, the titanium-plated tip of the missile streaks towards the Ark doors, too fast for Optimus to target. The Maximal can only watch as the missile impacts the doors, drilling almost straight through before it explodes; the detonation knocks the Ark doors completely off their hinges, the massive sheets of metal flying forward over Optimus' head and smashing into the ground with loud bangs.

Before the dust from the impacts has even cleared, Inferno, Tarantulas, and Quickstrike charge at the unprotected opening of the Maximal base. Firing with missile launchers, pulse cannons and cybervenom blaster, the three Predacons quickly force Optimus to duck behind one of the doors for cover, dragging Cheetor with him, the now-conscious Rattrap huddled behind the other one. 

"What d'ya suggest we do now, boss monkey?" Rattrap yells to be heard over the tumultuous attack. "If we let them just charge in, then we're as good as slagged! We gotta stop `em somehow!"

Optimus, oddly, grins then, and drags the limp form of Cheetor behind him for better protection. "One Pred-stopper coming up!" Showing the immense strength of his form, Optimus digs his hands underneath the edge of the scrapped door, and stands motionless for a moment, then heaves.

Rattrap's jaw drops as the huge hunk of metal impossibly lifts off the ground, Optimus' servos straining as he hefts it over his head. He then somehow finds the might to actually hurl it at the oncoming Predacons; the gargantuan hulk of metal flies through the air, spinning slowly as it drifts lower. Inferno uses his jets to fly above the door, and Quickstrike has the agility to leap out from below it; however, Tarantulas is hit full-on by the door, which hits him in the upper torso and head and knocks him down and out.

As the door creeps lower, Waspinator shakily stands up in front of a boulder; he is missing several parts, and somewhat woozy. He shakes his confusion off, however, when he sees the huge wedge of metal coming straight at his midsection. His jaw drops and his eyes bug out; a moment later, the door smashes into him, sending the top of his body flying in a hundred different directions; his head flies back and smacks Megatron in the chest, the Predacon leader scowling and swatting it away to somewhere.

Megatron activates his VTOL jets, and slowly lifts into the air to face the exhausted Optimus. "A nice show, Optimal Optimus…but ultimately, futile. Predacons, DESTROY HIM!!!"

Quickstrike, Inferno, Megatron and Dinobot open up on the Maximal leader with their various weapons. Optimus tries to block with his shields, but to no avail; shot after shot tears into his torso, leaving him scarred and pitted. Megatron flies closer, and aims his tail blaster at Optimus' head, grinning. "Well, Optimus…you've put up a good fight, but it looks like your time is up."

"Don't…count…on it…" wheezes Optimus, barely standing now… "I…might….be down…but I'm not OUT!"

With those words, Optimus slides down the 'cockpit' in the center of his chest, revealing his two heavy cannons. The laser sight activates, sending its red beam directly to the center of Megatron's chest. The Predacon leader gapes, until Optimus fires a dual blast, knocking Megs flying backwards to land hard on his back. 

An instant after Optimus fires, a silvery-grey blur streaks through the air and lands on the Maximal leader's chest; it reveals itself to be Dinobot, who slashes at Optimus frenziedly with his huge claws. Optimus screams in pain, but Rattrap has regains his awareness and knocks the unnatural Predacon off of Optimus with a well-aimed blast from his pulse rifle. Dinobot lands easily and snarls at the rodent, but out of nowhere comes a missile which slams him to the side; immediately evident as the source of the missile is Scorponok, flying out of the Ark. His left claw splits open to reveal a quad-barreled chain gun, and he fires repeatedly with his right-claw missile launcher. Behind him, Rhinox, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia dash out of the Ark entrance, letting fly with chain guns, wingtip missiles and pulse cannons. Megatron hauls himself off the ground and reverts to beastmode; his VTOL jets spark wildly, and there is a severe gash torn across his head. Dodging several shots, he snarls and yells out, "This battle is yours, Maximals, but the day will be ours! Predacons, retreat! Retreaaaaat!"

Within moments, the Predacons are merely diminishing shadows on the horizon; the functional Maximals let fly with a few parting shots, then turn themselves to assisting their injured companions. Scorponok ceases firing and turns to support Optimus alongside Rattrap, ignoring puzzled looks from the rodent. The warriors set themselves to work repairing their battered base, as the sun sets in the distance…

Later that night, the Maximals have nearly finished the repairs, but are still wearied and damaged. The doors are re-hung from their hinges, with added armor to cover the holes left by the drill-missile. The autoguns are repaired, and the damaged Maximals are either healed or busily restoring themselves to pristine condition. In the cavern proper, outside both the salvaged portions of the Axalon and the actual Ark, Scorponok sits on a boulder, examining his new body. Behind him, Cheetor walks up, still a little weak from Terrorsaur's attack but mostly good as new.

"Um…hi, Scorponok." Cheetor says tentatively; the former Predacon doesn't even look up, but merely kicks a pebble down into the lava pools. It clatters against the ground a few times, then disappears into the molten rock without as much as a ripple. The cheetah waits a few moments, then sits down next to Scorponok. "I didn't really see any of it, but Rattrap told me that you helped out a lot with the cleanup. I just kinda wanted to say thanks…"

The scorpion still doesn't respond.

Cheetor scratches his head a few times, then tries again. "Uh, if you're damaged, you can use our CR chamber…we're done with our repair cycles, it's empty now."

No response…

The feline Maximal scratches his head a few more times, then shrugs and gives up. "Well, uh, I guess you can just keep sitting here if you want…if you get bored or anything, or don't know where something is, I'll be in my cabin…"

Cheetor walks away, and in a few moments is out of sight. Finally, Scorponok turns his head to look in the direction the Maximal vanished in, and smiles slightly. "Thank you…my…friend." He shakes his head, and then closes his eyes. "It will take some time…to get used to not being a Predacon. But…it is strange…and 'fun'…"

Inside the Predacon Base…

"IDIOTS!" Megatron roars as he emerges from the CR pool, his wounds healed and his temper none the better for the failed attack on the Maximal base. "I could have made a better assault on the Maximals using rejects from an ore-crusher droid factory!!"

Tarantulas is just completing his repair cycle; he shakes a finger at Megatron, cocking his head. "Oh great Megatron," he says, sarcasm thick in his voice, "You were _so_ much more effective than the rest of us out there, flat on your skidplate with a hole in your armor a klick wide! Oh, how can we _ever_ hope to become such great warriors as the exulted Megatron?"

Megatron shook his head at the arachnid. "Sarcasm ill befits you, Tarantulas…It's better when used by those with the intelligence to appreciate it. A cleverer Predacon would have waited to sharpen his wit until it was unlikely to get him slagged…Inferno?"

At a gesture from his 'Queen', the insectoid Predacon was only too happy to turn his dual flame-throwers on Tarantulas, twin pulses of heat knocking the spider backwards back into the CR pool.

"Thank you, Inferno." Megatron says, grinning. "Now…attend to your duties. I must decide what my next move shall be."

As the Predacons disperse, Megatron rubs his chin thoughtfully…

Back at the Maximal Base, inside the remains of the Axalon's bridge, Rhinox sits at a console looking at sensor reports. Making a rumbling sound deep in his throat, he frowns and moves to a different display, punching in commands with his deceptively stubby fingers. "Hmm…this is interesting…" he says thoughtfully, peering at the screen.

"What's so interesting?" Rattrap asks, walking up in robotmode. Moving next to Rhinox, he takes a look at the display, looks towards the rhino, then does a double-take. "Heyyy…what the slag??"

Rhinox nods slowly. "A power reading…deep underground. There's never been anything of the sort from that region…I don't like the looks of this. If the sensor grid isn't faulty, then there's enough energy in whatever's down there to scour this planet clean. If Megatron got his hands on it, then the Beast Wars could be over real fast."

Silently, Scorponok walks by, and catches a glimpse of the sensor readouts. He stops dead, turns, and strides over, pushing Rhinox and Rattrap out of the way without a word. A moment later, he begins to punch in streams of data, his fingers moving almost faster than the eye can see as he calls up and dismisses dozens of menus and programs in a few seconds. Finally, he stops and straightens, his arms folded across his chest.

"So…this is what has been calling to me…" he whispers, as Rattrap and Rhinox look at the display curiously; a picture is called up on is, a tower or monument of some sort. Scorponok nods slowly. "That's what preserved us…"

Optimus walks up, now, puzzled. "Rattrap, Rhinox, Scorponok…what's the matter here?"

The former Predacon turns around and points at the screen with one claw. "That's what preserved us…it's what let Terrorsaur and I survive the lava. Somehow, when the quantum surge hit, that activated partway, and it shielded us…it must have driven Terrorsaur mad. I thank the Matrix that I did not suffer the same fate…"

"What is it?" Rhinox asked, after an awkward silence. "The closest thing we've seen to it was the Vok tower on the floating island…"

Scorponok nodded. "I remember…it seems somewhat akin to that particular structure. Whatever its intended purpose, or reason for existing, we must stop Terrorsaur from getting to it…if he does, then I fear that he will become too powerful for any of us, Maximal or Predacon, to stop. Not only that…he will be able to become a scourge throughout the universe, and spread his madness beyond the confines of this one small planet. I will not allow that to happen, if I must stand against him alone."

After another pause, Optimus shakes his head decisively. "You won't have to."

He strides to a panel, and punches a button; a microphone pops out of a drawer, and floats upwards on an antigravity field. "Attention, Maximals." Optimus says into the mike; his voice echoes throughout the base, via a PA system. "Prepare for combat. We're going to have to move quickly, and soon. I'll brief you on the way…"

Within a short time, the Maximals are ready for combat; Rhinox elects to stay behind, and guard the Ark while his comrades are gone.

Not too far away from the Predacon base…

Megatron and all the Predacons, with the exception of Waspinator, move at top speed towards the source of the unknown energy reading; Terrorsaur or no Terrorsaur, Megatron does not intend to allow the Maximals possible access to something that could end the Beast Wars in Maximal victory...and anyhow, as he reasons to himself, if he acquires this source of energy, then it should be fairly easy to deal with one insane Transmetal. So he thinks.

Both the Maximals and Predacons grow ever closer to their target, unaware that their mutual foe is already on the verge of his ultimate goal…

As the opposing sides of the Beast Wars first realize each others' presence, they prepare to exchange fire…but are stopped by Scorponok's shout. "Stop, all of you!"

The Cybertronians reluctantly ease up on their weapons, and the scorpion continues. "We have a greater enemy…one that will destroy all of us, and ravage the cosmos, if we do not stop him here. There will be other days for fighting, other days for this pointless war between Maximal and Predacon! For now, we must fight together for our common salvation!"

"Pretty words, traitor." Megatron sneers, and points his tail-laser at Scorponok accusingly. "The words of a turncoat mean nothing to me, do you hear? NOTHING! I _will_ have that power source, and nothing you can say will make me stop from taking it by force – "

But he is cut off by a piercing cry; the insane Predacon has arrived, and the Maximals and Predacons fire their varied weapons at him futilely. A single blast from his gaping mouth, more reminiscent of a wound than an orifice, knocks away the Transformers; before they can do anything else, he is past them and headed for the center of the plateau, out of range.

"NOOO!!!" Scorponok screams, but he knows it is futile. He sinks to his knees, knowing what is about to happen but unable to tear his eyes away from it.

Terrorsaur flies at top speed over the plateau, towards an odd pyramid-shaped structure; as he draws closer, he sends out bolts of energy, the blasts striking through the surface of the landform to something below. As Maximal and Predacon alike stand astonished, an immense obelisk, a monument of apparently Vok design, rises up out of the ground like some immense, malevolent phoenix. 

As the obelisk rises, Terrorsaur flies in ecstatic circles around it, laughing gleefully as his plan comes to fruition. When it stops after a seeming eternity, all is silent for a moment, his insane chuckles cutting through the quiet like a knife.

Then, the structure powers up. With a hum that rapidly intensifies and becomes an electronic shriek, a blinding light pours from its top, and fins fold out of the sides, for all the world like an immense satellite dish. Then, the light spills over and takes the form of an immense shockwave, which speeds outward from the tower and rapidly reaches the Beast Warriors. Then, all of the Transmetal warriors except for Depthcharge, Dinobot, Rampage, Scorponok and Terrorsaur begin to spark and spasm, their forms shrinking and shifting. Within moments, all of them have reverted to their original forms – the ones they first took upon reaching the planet.

Terrorsaur, on the other hand, appears to be completing his change; his exterior shifts and flows, and he screams in pain or ecstasy – it is impossible to tell which – as the obelisk's energy surges through him.

"The Transmetal forms were a result of the quantum surge – the obelisk must be canceling out the effects of Vok influence!" Optimus shouted out above the howling winds. "We can't let it stop us – we have to get to Terrorsaur!"

"No, Optimus!" Scorponok roared suddenly, struggling to his feet. "This isn't your fight, or that of any of the other Maximals either!"

Straining, he managed to stand up, just as the winds died down; Maximals and Predacons alike rose cautiously, and a moment later Terrorsaur plummeted from the sky to land in front of Scorponok. "So, 'brother'…You've failed! I have activated the obelisk! What do you have to say to that?"

The lunatic bears very little resemblance to the Predacon he was originally; his body crackles with energy, and he does not appear to even have a distinguishable beast mode any longer, looking most like a synthesis of organic and technological, a bizarre travesty of Cybertronian robot and Earth animal.

Scorponok stands motionless, gazing past Terrorsaur almost as if he isn't there. "I say….eat cold slag!"

Turning, he arches his tail behind him and, before the abomination can react, fires a Cybervenom stinger at him; the projectile smashes into Terrorsaur's torso, knocking the Transmetal terror off the edge of the plateau Scorponok was standing on and into the air. A split second later, the scorpion swings his left arm towards Terrorsaur, and the claw unfolds into four sections, revealing Scorponok's chaingun. The gun drills into Terrorsaur, the bullets smashing through Cybertronian armor and organic plate at supersonic speeds.

Jittering and sparking, Terrorsaur loses control of his flight and fell into the mists below. Scorponok turns back to the obelisk and opens his right claw, his quad missile launcher swiveling into position. He aims towards the tower, but before he can fire, out blasts up from the clouds none other than Terrorsaur! Battered, armor blackened and twisted from damage, unidentifiable fluids running from a dozen wounds, but nonetheless fully functional and dangerous, he screeches, unleashing twin bolts of lightning that converge at Scorponok's spark chamber, draining his energy and making him spasm and jolt with pain. He staggers backwards, unknowingly nearing the edge of the cliff, moments away from slipping off, into a fall that would most probably end with his death…

And is saved at the last nanosecond by an unlikely savior in the form of Megatron! Swinging himself up over the edge with his beastmode head, he fires one of his missiles from his tail-weapon, the projectile streaking at Terrorsaur, whose mouth is still open in a scream as the missile explodes, knocking him onto his back further away on the plateau.

"Die, Terrorsaur! Predacon or not, your insane dream dies now!" Megatron shouts, then shoots a look at the recovering and dumbfounded Scorponok. "Do the deed now, arachnid, before I claim the tower for myself!"

Not speaking a word, Scorponok pivots, and brings his arm up. His claw snaps open, and he fires a missile…another…and another, straight at the tower. Before he can fire the fourth, Terrorsaur springs off the ground, mouth open in an incoherent scream, not an attack this time but a yell of despair. He rams straight into Scorponok, knocking him onto his back; the scorpion, in turn, knocks Terrorsaur off of him with a double-footed kick. They rise as one and face each other for a moment; then, they leap at one another wordlessly. Terrorsaur quickly gains the upper hand, and in a moment has Scorponok transfixed with a spark-draining energy bolt, thrusting his face into Scorponok's and gloating in a dry hiss as the arachnid's visage contorts with pain.

"So, even with the help of your allies, you cannot do enough damage to the tower to destroy it…and you won't live to finish the job, while I will survive far longer than any other here!"

Scorponok's face went curiously slack and calm, and he relaxed for a moment. Then, with a spike of energy impaling him, with his spark fading, with Terrorsaur gloating in his face, he grins. "For the first…three might be…enough…" he gasps, and then shudders in pain. "And don't throw away your…life insurance…just yet…"

He jams his right claw into a hole in Terrorsaur's armor, and the claw opens just enough to allow something rather small to come out…something small…

Like the fourth missile.

The projectile travels only a few centimeters before penetrating Terrorsaur's infrastructure; it travels a few centimeters more before detonating, the explosion blowing Scorponok and Terrorsaur in opposite directions at the exact moment the first missile hits the Vok artifact.

A massive sphere of expanding energy is created, quickly followed by two others, ripping through the tower and taking out its support. Before Scorponok and Terrorsaur stop bouncing, the tower starts to fall, the huge booms of the explosions and the screeching of metal against metal and stone reaching the Cybertronians a few moments later. As all others, Maximal and Predacon both, watch the tower slowly falling, Optimus bends over Scorponok's prone form.

"Terrorsaur?" Scorponok grits out. Optimus looks over at the crazed Predacon lying on the ground and nods; Terrorsaur's remains are scrap metal, what's left of his torso lying several feet away from his legs. His optics are dark, and his spark chamber is empty. In death, his corpse has reverted to his original, pre-Transmetal form…his face is still open in one final, eternal scream. "…and the tower…is falling…" Scorponok's words are punctuated by the angry groans and rumbles of the falling monument, so large that it has not finished hitting ground yet, as well as by gasps and moans of his own.

"Yes…you succeeded, Scorponok." Optimus looks sad, and Scorponok smiles tiredly, a moment later gasping as another wave of pain passes through his body. "Terrorsaur is gone, the tower destroyed…"

"Then…then my work is done." Scorponok relaxes. "The pain…it isn't as great anymore…I'm just a little...cold…" He jerks up and grabs Optimus' chest plate, intensity coming back into his features. "Optimus…don't say that I died as a Predacon…or as a Maximal…tell my tale, and let those who would listen call me hero or villain…say that I died…as a warrior…"

With that, his optics dim and he falls slack, nothing more than a highly-organized collection of spare parts.

Optimus steps backward and stands up, hanging his head. He barely notices when the tower finally finishes falling, the crystalline top shattering as it smashes into the ground. He stands unmoving as the shattered head of the tower unleashes another shockwave, restoring the Beast Warriors to their Transmetal or Transmetal II forms. He stands there, motionless, for almost an hour.

Behind him, Quickstrike steps up and cocks his snake-head at Optimus' unprotected back. "How `bout we kick him while he's down, Megatron?"

"No." Megatron says curtly, swinging his blaster down in front of the smaller 'bot. "Tomorrow, we will meet as deadly enemies, but today…we part as fellows. Predacons, beast mode!"

He changes to T-Rex, and stalks off, followed by the other Predacons. Cheetor looks at them leaving, and turns to Optimus. "Come on, Optimus…let's go."

The Maximal leader turns to him, and nods silently. As they walk to the edge, Optimus stops suddenly, then moves back to Scorponok and lifts the body onto his shoulders. "He deserves full honors…None of us really knew him, did we?"

He shifts to flight-mode, and follows Cheetor back to the Ark, into the sunset…

THE END


End file.
